In general, lubrication pumps are used to supply lubricant, such as grease or oil, to lubrication target points in a variety of rotating machines, such as electric motors, pumps, and blowers. In this case, the lubrication target points chiefly refer to bearings that are used for the purpose of supporting the rotating shafts of rotating machines.
FIG. 1 is a view showing an application of a conventional lubrication pump. A conventional typical lubrication pump is a small pump, which has a single outlet. Accordingly, the lubrication pump itself can supply lubricant to a single lubrication target point.
However, a typical rotating machine, such as a motor M shown in FIG. 1, has two lubrication target points because both ends of a rotating shaft A are supported by respective bearings B. Accordingly, in the case of the conventional art, two lubrication pumps are generally applied to the single rotating machine M, as shown in FIG. 1. In other words, the conventional art has problems including inefficiency and higher cost because two lubrication pumps are required to lubricate a rotating machine.
In another conventional art that uses a lubrication pump and also a special valve, such as a distributing valve, can make lubricant discharged from one single outlet of the lubrication pump be separately discharged to two outlets through the distributing valve. However, since the distribution valve is added to the single pump, this technology also has problems in that installation is complicated and costs are increased.
In still another conventional art, a passage can be divided into two passages by applying a member, called a tee, to a single outlet of a lubrication pump. However, this application has a problem in that different amounts of lubricant are apt to be supplied to two lubrication points though they require the same amount of lubricant because the resistances of line produced in the respective passages cannot be kept the same.